parts of the region, including Edom, mentioned as a state ruled by a king, were not even inhabited by a sedentary population at that time, and thus no kings of Edom could have been there for the Israelites to meet. Finkelstein and Silberman concluded that sites mentioned in the Exodus narrative were unoccupied at the time they reportedly played a role in the events of the Israelites wanderings in the wilderness, and thus a mass Exodus did not happen at the time and in the manner described in the Bible. Commandments According to Maimonides Maimonides cited verses in the parashah for three negative commandments: That the judge not be afraid of a bad person when judging Not to appoint as judge one who is not learned in the laws of the Torah, even if the person is learned in other disciplines That warriors shall not fear their enemies nor be frightened of them in battle According to Sefer ha-Chinuch According to Sefer ha-Chinuch, there are two negative commandments in the parashah. Not to appoint any judge who is unlearned in the Torah, even if the person is generally learned That a judge presiding at a trial should not fear any evil person Liturgy Some Jews recite the blessing of fruitfulness in among the verses of blessing recited at the conclusion of the Sabbath. "Mount Lebanon . . . Siryon," another name for Mount Hermon, as explains, is reflected in , which is in turn one of the six Psalms recited at the beginning of the Kabbalat Shabbat prayer service . The Weekly Maqam In the Weekly Maqam, Sephardi Jews each week base the songs of the services on the content of that week's parashah. For parashah Devarim, Sephardi Jews apply Maqam Hijaz, the maqam that expresses mourning and sadness. This maqam is appropriate not due to the content of the parashah, but because this is the parashah that falls on the Shabbat prior to Tisha B'Av, the date that marks the destruction of the Temples. Haftarah Devarim is always read on the final Shabbat of Admonition, the Shabbat immediately prior to Tisha B'Av. That Shabbat is called Shabbat Chazon, corresponding to the first word of the haftarah, which is . Many communities chant the majority of this haftarah in the mournful melody of the Book of Lamentations due to the damning nature of the vision as well as its proximity